Declaration of Independence

Did you know that there is a traveling version of the Declaration of Independence? Neither did I until a friend of mine sent me a link to a news story about it heading our way. It's only here for two days so we're hoping to go see it while it's in town.

This rare copy of the Declaration of Independence was one of approximately 200 copies printed on the night of July 4, 1776 by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap. As of 1989, only 24 copies of the Dunlap broadsides were known to exist, until a flea market shopper bought a framed painting for four dollars. While inspecting a tear in the painting, the owner discovered a folded Dunlap broadside behind it.

This 25th copy of the Dunlap broadside was authenticated by Sotheby’s and an independent expert.

In June 2000, producer Norman Lear and his wife Lyn purchased the document on Sotheby’s online auction for $8 million and formed the Declaration of Independence Road Trip. Lear’s goal for the ten-year, cross-country tour was to exhibit in all 50 States, bringing the “People’s Document” directly to Americans – especially young people – to inspire them to participate in civic activism, to exercise their rights and, above all, to vote.

What an incredible opportunity the Lear Foundation has provided to the American people. I was a senior in high school before I was able to get to Washington, D.C. to see the Declaration of Independence and here my 7 and 9 year old will get to see a copy before they are even out of grade school.




Pau.




- hfs

Mystery of the Nile - LEGO interpretation

Earlier this week, as part of our study of the ancient Egyptians, we watched the movie "Mystery of the Nile". What an incredible adventure of a movie! The Boy and The Girl were as enthralled as I was! And when we found out that there is a book to go along with the movie, we hit the library's website to request it immediately. It came in shortly after we requested it and it's sitting in our library basket, waiting to be read.


After we were done watching the movie, The Boy had some free time while I worked with The Girl on her math and he set to work with his Legos. Here's how I know he enjoyed the movie:



One of the rafts that the film makers used to travel the 4,000 miles of the Nile River.



Another angle of the raft.



Gordon Brown's kayak.



The expedition crew.



The expedition crew going under one of the bridges along the Nile in Ethiopia.



Another view.


The Boy then proceeded to retell me the story of the expedition, almost point by point, using his Lego creations to illustrate. I told him he should go get the Duplo alligator out to add to the scene, which he did, but my camera battery died before I had a chance to take a picture.


The Girl now wants to take kayaking lessons so she can learn to kayak like Mr. Brown did in the movie. Thankfully we're in the right place for her to learn. Time to talk to some people and see what I can set up for her!


If you've not had a chance to watch the movie, I would definitely recommend it. It's an amazing production and, while watching it, you feel as though you are THERE on the Nile with them.




Pau.




- hfs

Building the Nile

Currently, we are in the midst of ancient history - working our way from the earliest nomads to the last Roman Emperor. One of our lessons in our history text, Story of the World, was on the Nile river. There are a variety of activities to be had at the end of each lesson and we chose to build a model of the Nile river.


Here is The Girl with her river. We will "flood" them once a week and watch in hopes that the grass grows along its "banks".



This is The Boy and his Nile river. I"m not sure if they had more fun collecting the rocks and pebbles to line the model or "flooding" the river!



This week, we are making our own cuneiform tablets and learning about the first forms of writing. Next week we will move on to PYRAMIDS!!!


I also stumbled across a wonderful blog by another homeschooling mom named Carrie. Her blog, "Live, Learn, and Love Together" is an incredible resource of homeschooling ideas and insight. So I did what any creatively-challenged homeschooling mom would do and "borrowed" some of her great ideas! Her idea for an Independent Notebook/Folder was perfectly timed - we were having trouble making the transition from waking up/breakfast to school and the notebook idea fit right in! And her pictures of the projects that her children did when working through Story of the World, Volume 1 help me think beyond just the basics (compare her pictures of their Nile rivers to the pictures of OUR Nile rivers and you'll see what I'm talking about! She's much more creative than I am.).


So thanks, Carrie, for the incredible resource that is your blog!


For now, it's quiet time here in our house so I'm off to read a book!




Pau.




- hfs